s here."

"Is Mistress Lucy well?"

"Welly miserable, sah. Missy say Massa Bold take care; she say 'God
bless Massa.'"

Inwardly I blessed her for her thought of me; then I said:

"We must both be careful, Moses. Now, I must escape from this, and
you must help me."

"Yes, Massa, me want to help, but dere is no way for po' Uncle
Moses."

"We must find a way; we must," I said in a fierce whisper. "Could
you come up and help me if I burst open the door? Are you strong?
Could you knock a man down?"

"Me plenty strong, sah, but what good dat? Massa might get away,
but what den?"

"Why, we could get among the trees in the darkness, and you could
lead me to the road, and perhaps find me a horse, so that I could
ride to Spanish Town."

"No, no, sah, me berry much 'fraid in dark, sah. Me shake like leaf
now, sah; but in forest, wiv de bugaboos, me melt all away to
water."

I had heard of the dread with which the negroes regarded the
bugaboos, the evil spirits of the woods, and knew that there was
but a poor chance of escaping if my guide were in a state of panic
terror. Moses had shown unusual courage in coming alone in the
darkness to the stable beneath me, and there was a tremor in his
voice which showed that even now but little was wanted to make him
go howling away. I thought it best not to risk so inopportune and
fatal a calamity, so I bade him go away and come again next night,
by which time I hoped to have been able to think out a plan that
offered reasonable prospects of success.

Chapter 24: I Make A Bid For Liberty.

I slept heavily when Uncle Moses had gone, making up for my
wakefulness the night before; and next day I was more composed in
mind, and readier to take thought. Ignorant as I was of the
plantation and the country round, I saw that to escape in the night
without a guide would be to court disaster, and a timorous guide
like Uncle Moses, with his fear of the bugaboos, might lead me to
my undoing. Therefore my flight must be contrived by day. The door
of my chamber was opened three times, when the guards brought me
food, and 'twas possible that, with the negro making a diversion
outside, I might seize such an occasion to fell one of the men and
evade the other. But this plan scarce promised success, for the
house was situate in the sugar plantation, and doubtless many
negroes would be at work, and the overseer would be at hand, with
possibly others of the piratical dogs whom Vetch had